Poker based puzzle and method of creation

ABSTRACT

A method of establishing one or more puzzles from candidate deals of a card game such as poker, for supporting an exercise in guessing an opponent&#39;s concealed card holdings. The method may use random dealing, archived actual deals, and other manufactured or sourced material to source an inventory of candidate deals. To qualify a deal from the inventory of candidate deals, the method may quantify one or more parameters of a candidate card deal. Quantified parameters may be weighted or otherwise mathematically treated, then evaluated to arrive at a determination of suitability for establishing a puzzle based on the candidate deal. The puzzles may be used as the basis of an exercise or game wherein the participant must guess the nature of concealed card holdings. Where the invention is regarded as the resultant game, guesses may be mathematically quantified to arrive at a score.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of United States Non-ProvisionalUtility application Ser. No. 12/835,287 filed on Jul. 13, 2010, andclaims the benefit of priority thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to games, and more particularly to a gamewhich is an exercise or puzzle based on a known card game in whichelements of a previously played game have been concealed such that thepurpose of the game is to have a game player learn to arrive at accurateguesses for the concealed elements of the game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well known that many card games, which are seemingly games ofchance and in which success is seemingly dependent upon the power ofcards dealt to a player, are actually games of skill. One of the primaryskills of winning players in any card game is accurately assessing, orreading, opponents and extracting favorable outcomes from any given cardholding or game situation by acting accordingly. In some games, this isdone in conjunction with betting.

One such game is poker, a game which utilizes a deck of cards of whichsome are distributed to each player, with a goal of each player toidentify any weaknesses in his or her opponent's card holdings or gameplay and extract maximum value, typically in the form of money or tokenssuch as chips, from opponents by exploiting those weaknesses. To do so,players may elect to bet, raise, call, fold, or check, and if entitledto, may adjust bet or raise sizes accordingly. Identifying theparticular action that leads to an outcome of maximum value requiresmany poker skills, one of which requires players to make educatedguesses as to the card holdings of his or her opponents. Because aplayer cannot see some or all of the cards held by his or her opponents,that player must, as all players must, draw inferential conclusions asto the power or standing of his or her opponents' card holdings, orrange of card holdings, based on any information from the current dealor other information known about the opponent.

Further, an important aspect of poker is that of acting as though aplayer has a more powerful, or less powerful, holding than is actuallythe case. This is called bluffing. One of the requisite skills for pokerplayers then is to be able to bluff when adventurous, or mathematicallyadvantageous, and also to discern when other players may be bluffing.This exponentially increases the difficulty of discerning an opponent'scard holdings, as an opponent may have a very strong holding yet actweak, or alternatively, an opponent may be holding weak cards yet actstrong.

Developing an advanced ability to read poker players and pokersituations, bet appropriately, bluff, and detect bluffing on the part ofopponents at the table may be achieved by actual experience gained whileplaying poker. However, this may take a considerable amount of time, andmay further entail risking money because of betting.

It is desirable then to find a way of accelerating the process oflearning poker strategy and other aspects of poker playing, such asreading poker players and game situations, other than by actual playover a potentially long period of time and potentially at greatfinancial expense. A game or training exercise which would enableplayers to learn poker strategy from actual games, about actual players,of real game situations encountered in live play without the risk offinancial losses is highly desirable. In addressing such needs, thisinvention discloses a method of producing such training game exercisesfor a known card game such as poker.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of establishingat least one deal of a hand of a pre-established or known game such aspoker such that the deal is suitable for a game in which a playerattempts to guess the nature of concealed card holdings.

The present game may be established based on a recorded history of apreviously played deal or on a manufactured deal of the pre-establishedgame, or a game may be fabricated or manufactured to serve the purposesof the present invention. However, not all deals or game situations lendthemselves advantageously to the novel game.

A deal of the pre-established game, which may or may not be suitable forthe present game, may be obtained in any suitable way such as randomdeals, retrieval of historical compilations of actually dealt or playeddeals, by arbitrary selection or establishment of deals, by fabricationof manufacturing of deals, or by any combination of these. A furtheraspect of the invention then is a way to qualify or manufacture anappropriate game situation for incorporation into the present game. Thepresent invention therefore provides a method of qualifying a deal fromall available deals or manufacturing the present game so that thequalified deal or manufactured game is suitable for an exercise of thepresent game in which a player attempts to guess the nature of concealedcard holdings of a player or players dealt into the original deal. Thiscan be implemented by quantifying and assessing values of novel gameparameters which are desirable to include and desirable to limit.

The present method preferably establishes a plurality of such games, sothat a repetitious exercise is implemented wherein a player guesses thenature of concealed card holdings in many games. According to anotheraspect, the invention may be thought of as a game puzzle wherein thegoal is to have a puzzle solver guess the nature of concealed cardholdings by using the information established and provided by the novelmethod.

In utilizing the novel method to establish a deal of the present game,the present method dissects, measures, and evaluates novel attributes ofa deal of a pre-established game such as poker to determine whether thedeal is suitable for the present game. The subsequent game created basedon such analyses requires a participant or player of the present game tosolve the game by utilizing specific skills to analyze aspects of theoriginal deal. These aspects may include for example, game and actionprogression, characteristics of the various players such as playingstyle or body language, historical statistics of the various players,any visible or known card holdings, and still other information whichmay be obtained and evaluated for use in the present game.

The present game therefore may reproduce an actual or synthesized gameposition taken from a known game such as poker, and present a player ofthe present game with the situation faced by a player of the originaldeal. The player of the present game may be required to solve thepresent game by assessing given game information and providing a guessas to the card holdings of a selected player or players of the originaldeal. A score may be assigned to the player of the present game, forexample based on accuracy, or how close to the actual or synthesizedoutcome of the original deal the player of the present game has come inassessing the concealed holdings of the selected player or players ofthe original game.

There are at least two main uses for the invention. One is instructive,in that a participant may learn card playing skills, and in particular,the skill of reading card players and more accurately assessing thenature of concealed card holdings of a player or players in a card game.A second benefit is that of amusement derived from participation from anexercise based on the novel method.

In providing instruction, benefits of the present game include anexpedited process of gaining experience and proficiency in thepre-established game. By generating a virtual game in which some of theplay has been reproduced and presented to the participating player,delays inherent in actual play, such as lost time typically due towaiting for a game to begin or undue delays such as waiting for asuccession of other players to decide on their respective courses ofaction, are eliminated and more deals may be completed in a given timewindow.

Further, deals of the present game may be presented in such a mannerthat specific skills are learned by grouping deals around a common gamesituation, specific game players or playing styles, game decisions, orother factors, to eliminate the study of deals which may be uneventfulor unnecessary in training. Additionally, by analyzing game results of aparticipant in the present invention, the participant may rapidlyself-identify specific areas of weakness and be presented withspecialized game exercises focused on improving those areas of weakness.

A further benefit of establishing the novel game is cost savings to theparticipant or player of the present game. The present game provides away for a person to play a game from within his or her residence, ratherthan being obliged to travel potentially a considerable distance toattend and learn from an actual game or other play venue. Further, bynot requiring direct participation in the original game, players of thepresent game eliminate any potential risk of financial losses due tobetting. Whether the participant seeks expedited, risk-free instruction,amusement, or both, the skill of accurately assessing an opponent's cardholdings, and more particularly, concealed card holdings, becomes thefocus of the present invention.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a way to qualify adeal of known or pre-established game or manufacturing a game, so thatthe qualified deal or manufactured game is suitable for an exercisewherein a participant must attempt to guess concealed card holdings of aplayer in the original deal.

Another object of the invention is to provide a player with gameinformation, such that the provided information represents a real-lifegame scenario, and to place a player of the present game in a situationwhich immediately presents him or her with an exercise in making anassessment pertinent to the original game.

A further object is to expedite practice sessions applicable to a knowngame by eliminating delays inherent in actual play and restrictingexercises to those which are appropriate for instruction in the originalgame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representation of an exemplary deal of a poker hand,depicting the poker table, hypothetical players, and informationpertaining to the players and the action.

FIG. 2 is a logic diagram illustrating steps of a basic game generatedaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a logic diagram illustrating steps of a game amplified fromthat of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a logic diagram illustrating basic steps of a method ofgenerating a puzzle according to at least one aspect of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a logic diagram illustrating steps of evaluating a hand forcompliance with puzzle criteria according to at least one aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a logic diagram illustrating steps of calculating a scoreaccording to at least one aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention may be implemented firstly, as a method ofestablishing a puzzle to be solved by a person acting as a puzzlesolver, wherein the method of establishing a puzzle involves anevaluation of novel parameters that govern the nature of a puzzle, andsecondly, as an exercise or game based on established puzzles wherein apuzzle to be solved is the nature of concealed card holdings in a cardgame of plural players wherein at least one card of a holding of oneplayer is concealed from the puzzle solver.

An advantageous application of the invention is the field of poker, andin particular, forms of poker wherein players are dealt individualholdings which are concealed from other players. Players may also sharea community holding. A community holding is a card or set of cards whichare exposed to and shared by all players and which may be selected fromfor inclusion in forming card combinations together with any, all, ornone of a player's concealed cards. As poker is most often played inconjunction with betting, the selected form of poker may includeprocedures such as rules permitting players to go all-in, bet any amountor an amount up to the amount of the current pot size, or bet a setlimit amount. Examples of such games are seen in Texas Holdem and OmahaHoldem.

The first aspect of the invention to be discussed is a method ofqualifying a deal, or manufacturing a deal, of a known orpre-established game such as one of the mentioned forms of poker inwhich the game consists of at least one concealed card holding of one ofthe players. The deal that is qualified or manufactured presents thebasis for a puzzle to be solved, namely, the nature of one or more setsof concealed card holdings of players participating in the deal.

A deal of a poker hand has many elements which must be considered whenattempting to qualify or manufacture a deal such that the deal would beuseful for the above stated purposes and goals. The evaluated elementsmay be descriptive parameters of the deal under consideration oranalyzed parameters of the deal under consideration.

The descriptive parameters of a poker deal comprise descriptivecharacteristics or aspects of the deal or of players or group of playersincluded in the deal. Descriptive parameters include for example thespecific deal type such as Texas Holdem, betting limits and rules, totalnumber of players, summaries of past deals such as average pot size,characteristics of any or all of the community cards such as boardtextures, specific situations requiring player decisions on betting, andin some cases, drawing cards, and other descriptive characteristics of apoker deal. The descriptive parameters may be randomly selected orspecifically set so that a game puzzle is created based on a deal whichconforms to any or all of the above descriptive parameters.

In addition to considering descriptive parameters of a deal, values ofspecific puzzle parameters of a deal may be mathematically quantified.The quantified values of puzzle parameters may be compared topredetermined or calculated threshold values and the sum of allquantified values of puzzle parameters may be compared to apredetermined or calculated threshold value for consideration of thedeal as achieving candidacy for inclusion as a puzzle which may beutilized for the exercise of guessing concealed cards.

TABLE 1 Puzzle question The question posed by the puzzle Puzzle answerThe answer to the puzzle Puzzle answer hand The best poker handavailable from any combination of puzzle answer cards and sharedcommunity cards Puzzle answer hand The best poker hand rank availablefrom any combination of puzzle rank answer cards and shared communitycards Puzzle answer hand A measure of how strong the puzzle answer handis in relation to the full strength range of possible hands, and/or allor a subset of all possible hands Puzzle answer rank A measure of howstrong the puzzle answer hand rank is in relation to the strength fullrange of possible hand ranks and/or all or a subset of all possible handranks Puzzle answer card The specific suit of a card included within thepuzzle answer; this may suit include plural cards Puzzle answer card Thespecific number or rank of a card of the puzzle answer; this may numberinclude plural cards User guess The input from the user to answer thepuzzle question User guess hand The best poker hand available from anycombination of the user guess cards with known community cards Userguess hand The best poker hand rank available from any combination ofuser guess rank cards with known community cards User guess hand Ameasure of how strong the user guess hand is in relation to the fullstrength range of possible hands and/or all or a subset of all possiblehands User guess hand A measure of how strong the user guess hand rankis in relation to the full rank strength range of possible hand ranksand/or all or a subset of all possible hand ranks User guess score Aquantitative or qualitative analysis of a user guess Possible hands Allpossible hands available from any combination of all or a subset ofpossible player starting cards with known and/or possible communitycards Possible hand ranks All possible poker hand ranks available from acombination of all or a subset of possible player starting cards withknown and/or possible community cards Possible starting All possiblenon-suit specific groups of player starting hands hands Possiblestarting All distinct possible card combinations of player startingcards cards Card suit criticality The degree a given suit may be afactor in the overall poker hand Card number The degree a given cardnumber or rank may be a factor in the overall criticality poker handHand rank A measure of how probable a random guess would result in thecorrect probability puzzle hand rank Hand probability A measure of howprobable a random guess would result in the correct puzzle hand Startinghand A measure of how probable a random guess would result in thecorrect probability puzzle answer hand Card suit probability A measureof how probable a random guess would result in the correct puzzle answercard suit Card number A measure of how probable a random guess wouldresult in the correct probability puzzle answer card number

DEFINITIONS

The puzzle parameters are defined in the following ways:

The quantity of actions refers to the sum of actions taken by a playeror group of players in a real, virtual, or manufactured deal such asfolding, betting, calling, raising, check-raising, and the like. Thequantity of actions may also be represented as the ratio of the sum ofactions taken by a player or group of players to the number of distinctplayers or group of players with actions.

The total quantity of actions for a deal or for a portion of a deal maybe set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values. Similarly,the quantity of actions for a particular street or group of streets ornumber of players or group of players may be set to meet or not exceedpredetermined threshold values.

Further, the number of players or group of players and the number ofstreets or group of streets with a minimum or maximum quantity ofactions may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.The predetermined threshold values may be set for each parameter, oralternatively, may be established in light of resultant values of anypuzzle parameter or combination of parameters.

In addition to calculating the quantity of actions, in which all actionsare treated equally, the quality of actions quantifies the overallaction of a deal by assigning weights to each action based on thestrength of the particular action, relation of the particular action toprevious or other actions, relation of the particular action to thestrength of a player's hand, relation of the particular action to anyrelevant statistical and non-statistical information, and progression ofaction in the deal. Illustratively, a particular action may be givengreater or lesser weight than a different action, or similar action in adifferent deal or that occurred in a different game situation. Theweight of an action may be static, or alternatively, may dynamicallyincrease or decrease as game action progresses. This mirrors the realitythat subsequent actions by any player may increase or decrease thesignificance of a prior action.

The quality of actions refers to the sum of weighted actions taken by aplayer or group of players in a real, virtual, or manufactured deal. Thequality of actions may also be represented as the average of all, or asubset of all, weighted actions taken by a player or group of players.Further, the quality of actions may also be represented by the ratio ofthe sum or average of all, or a subset of all, weighted actions to thenumber of distinct players or group of players or street or group ofstreets with actions.

The total quality of actions for a deal or for a potion of a deal may beset to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values. Similarly, thequality of actions for a particular street or group of streets, numberof players or group of players, action type, or combination of actiontypes may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types or group of action types with a minimum or maximum qualityof actions may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined thresholdvalues. The predetermined threshold values may be set for eachparameter, or alternatively, may be established in light of resultantvalues any puzzle parameter or combination of parameters.

Statistical information pertaining to the deal and players in the dealmay assist the puzzle solver in making a more educated guess as to theidentity of the concealed cards. The statistical information may be dataon historical play of players in the deal, such that the data provides ahistory of how a player has acted in previous situations over a numberof prior deals, or alternatively, the statistical information may bedata on the current deal, such that the data provides mathematicalprobabilities of probable deal outcomes.

The quantity of statistical information refers to the sum of knownstatistical data points. For inclusion as a statistical data point, aconfidence level for each statistical data point may be set to meet ornot exceed predetermined threshold values.

The quantity of statistical information for a deal or for a portion of adeal, or for each action, type of action, combination of action types,street or group of streets, player or group of players, and combinationsthereof may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined thresholds.

The ratio of quantity of statistical information to the number ofplayers or group of players, quantity of actions, and quality of actionsmay be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types or group of action types with a minimum or maximum quantityof statistical information or with a minimum or maximum average quantityof statistical information, or any combination of these, may be set tomeet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

Each statistical data point may be exploited to assist a person solvingthe puzzle. The degree to which a known statistical data point assiststhe user may be quantified to arrive at an individual quality ofstatistic. For each statistical data point, the quality of statisticequates to the degree by which a player's individual statistic variesfrom that of a calculated average, such that a variance from thecalculated average either narrows or broadens the range of possibleconcealed card holdings. The calculated average may be for all playersacross many deals or across a select set of deals. These deals may begrouped by game type, game limit, date range, number of players, playerpersonalities or types, action types, and combinations thereof. Further,a quality of statistic may be adjusted for example by weighting factorswhich acknowledge disproportionality of importance or relevance to aparticular game situation. The values of the statistical weightingfactors may be static or may dynamically change in response to ongoingevolution of the deal.

The quality of statistical information equates to the sum of all, or asubset of all, weighted and mathematically normalized quality ofstatistics of the deal or of all players, or a subset of all players, ofthe deal. The quality of statistical information may also be representedby the average of all, or a subset of all, weighted and normalizedquality of statistics. The quality of statistical information for a dealor for a portion of a deal, or for each action, type of action,combination of action types, street or group of streets, player or groupof players, and combinations thereof may be set to meet or not exceedpredetermined threshold values.

The ratio of the quality of statistical information to the number ofplayers or group of players, quantity of actions, quality of actions,and quantity of statistical information may be set to meet or not exceedpredetermined threshold values.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types or group of distinct action types a minimum or maximumquality of statistical information, or any combination of these, may beset to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

In addition to statistical information, there exists non-statisticalinformation of a deal or of players of a deal that may assist the puzzlesolver in solving a given puzzle. The non-statistical information mayinclude player name, size of player's bank roll, player's backgroundsuch as years playing poker or education level, summarized player'splaying style such as big bluffer or solid player, player's winning orlosing history such as 3-time World Series of Poker gold-braceletwinner, player's physical actions such as hands shaking or leaningforward, player's emotional state such as on tilt or happy, generalplayer information such as gender or age, specific hand information suchas equity in pot, and full or partial results of a deal.

The quantity of non-statistical data equates to the sum of knownadditional pieces of information. The quantity of non-statisticalinformation for the deal, or for a portion of the deal, or for eachaction, type of action, combination of action types, street or group ofstreets, player or group of players, and combinations thereof may be setto meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

The ratio of quantity of non-statistical information to the number ofplayers or groups of players, quantity of actions, and quality ofactions may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types or group of distinct action types with a minimum or maximumquantity of non-statistical information or with a minimum or maximumaverage quantity of non-statistical information, or any combination ofthese, may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

Each non-statistical piece of information within the total quantity ofnon-statistical information may be exploited to by the puzzle solver tohelp him or her solve a given puzzle. The degree by which a knownnon-statistical piece of information assists the user may be quantifiedto arrive at an individual quality of a non-statistical piece ofinformation. The quality of each non-statistical piece of informationmay be adjusted for example by weighting factors which acknowledgedisproportionality of importance or relevance of the particular pieceinformation to a particular game situation. The values of thenon-statistical weighting factors may be static or may dynamicallychange in response to ongoing evolution of the deal.

The total quality of non-statistical information equates to the sum ofall, or a subset of all, weighted and mathematically normalizedqualities of non-statistical pieces of information of the deal or of allplayers, or a subset of all players, of the deal. The quality ofnon-statistical information may also be represented by the average ofall, or a subset of all, weighted qualities of non-statistical pieces ofinformation. The quality of non-statistical information for a deal orfor a portion of a deal, or for each action, type of action, combinationof action types, street or group of streets, player or group of players,and combinations thereof may be set to meet or not exceed predeterminedthreshold values.

The ratio of the quality of non-statistical information to the number ofplayers or group of players, quantity of actions, quality of actions,and quantity of non-statistical information may be set to meet or notexceed predetermined threshold values.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types or group of distinct action types with a minimum or maximumquality of non-statistical information, or any combination of these, maybe set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

Additional puzzle parameters quantified to assess whether or not a dealis suitable for inclusion as a game puzzle include the quantity ofdistinct hand rank possibilities, the quantity of distinct handpossibilities, the quantity of distinct potential hand rankpossibilities, and the quantity of distinct potential handpossibilities.

A hand rank possibility refers to a possible five-card hand rank such aspair, two pair, straight, flush, full house, and the like, calculated bycombining any possible combination of known board cards with anycombination of possible player starting cards. The quantity of hand rankpossibilities equates to the sum of distinct hand rank possibilitiesacross all possible combinations of known board cards with allcombinations of possible player starting cards for a particular deal.The quantity of hand rank possibilities may be set to meet or not exceedpredetermined threshold values at showdown or at any point in the dealprior to showdown.

A hand possibility refers to a possible five-card hand such asseven-high straight, eight-high straight, nine-high straight, and thelike, within the hand rank of straight, calculated by combining anypossible combination of known board cards with any combination ofpossible player starting cards. The quantity of hand possibilitiesequates to the sum of distinct hand possibilities across all possiblecombinations of known board cards with all combinations of possibleplayer starting cards for a particular deal or for a particular handrank within a particular deal. The quantity of hand possibilities may beset to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values at showdown orat any point in the deal prior to showdown.

A potential hand rank possibility refers to a possible five-card handrank such as pair, two pair, straight, flush, full house, and the like,calculated by combining any possible combination of known board cardsand an available additional card with any combination of possible playerstarting cards. The quantity of potential hand rank possibilitiesequates to the sum of distinct potential hand rank possibilities acrossall possible combinations of known board cards and an availableadditional card with all combinations of possible player starting cardsfor a particular deal. The quantity of potential hand rank possibilitiesmay be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values atshowdown or at any point in the deal prior to showdown.

A potential hand possibility refers to a possible five-card hand such asseven-high straight, eight-high straight, nine-high straight, and thelike, within the hand rank of straight, calculated by combining anypossible combination of known board cards and an available additionalcard with any combination of possible player starting cards. Thequantity of potential hand possibilities equates to the sum of distinctpotential hand possibilities across all possible combinations of knownboard cards and an available additional card with all combinations ofpossible player starting cards for a particular deal or for a particularpotential hand rank within a particular deal. The quantity of potentialhand possibilities may be set to meet or not exceed predeterminedthreshold values at showdown or any point in the deal prior to showdown.

Another key puzzle parameter is the quantity of known or exposed cards.A player may expose his or her card or cards at showdown or at a pointprior to showdown, or a card may be exposed by other means, such as adealer misdeal. The quantity of known or exposed cards may be set tomeet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

The pot size, as it applies to the sum of individual bets which havebeen made to the current point of progress in a deal, is another keypuzzle parameter considered in qualifying a deal for inclusion as a gamepuzzle. The pot size may also be represented as a ratio of the pot sizeto the table limit, quantity of action, or quality of action. The potsize for the deal or for a portion of the deal, or for each action,action type or combination of action types, street or group of streets,and combinations thereof may be set to meet or not exceed setpredetermined threshold values.

All-in is a situation in which there is no more possible action due to aplayer or players having no remaining chips to bet. The street all-inrefers to the street, or point in the deal, in which there is no morepossible action due to all remaining players in the deal being all-in orno more than one remaining player in the deal not all-in. The streetall-in may be set to meet or not exceed predetermined threshold values.

An action consistency is a measure of how consistent a player's actionis in accordance with his or her playing style, relative hand strength,relevant statistical and non-statistical information, and resultantvalues of quantified puzzle parameters. Illustratively, an aggressiveplayer with a strong hand at a point in the deal that acts weak at thatsame point in the deal receives a low action consistency score for thatparticular action within that particular deal. An action consistency maybe weighted by the quality of that particular action. A player's actionconsistency equates to the average action consistency across all actionsor a subset of all actions for that particular player in that particulardeal or across many deals, or may be represented by the minimum ormaximum action consistency for a particular player in that particulardeal.

The action consistency for all players or a subset of players or groupof players in the deal may be set to meet or not exceed a predeterminedthreshold value.

The number of players or group of players, number of streets or group ofstreets, number of actions or group of actions, and number of distinctaction types with a minimum or maximum action consistency, or anycombination of these, may be set to meet or not exceed predeterminedthreshold values.

The threshold values for each of the puzzle parameters may bepredetermined for each parameter, and may be adjusted in light ofresults from evaluations of any combination of puzzle parameters. Thatis, for example if a resultant value to a puzzle parameter exceeds therequired predetermined threshold, the predetermined threshold values forother puzzle parameters may be adjusted in light of the initialqualifying result. Further, the predetermined threshold values forpuzzle parameters may dynamically change in response to the ongoingevolution of the deal and evaluation of the deal.

The total sum of the resultant values of all puzzle parameters, or asubset of all puzzle parameters, may be set to meet or not exceedpredetermined threshold values. In calculating the total sum of puzzleparameter values, each puzzle parameter value may be individuallyweighted and mathematically normalized to balance the relativeimportance of each parameter in the overall qualification of a deal forinclusion as a game puzzle.

Once a suitable deal is qualified by meeting the descriptive parametersand by meeting or not exceeding the threshold values of individualpuzzle parameters and the sum of all weighted and normalized puzzleparameters, then a game puzzle or exercise predicated on the qualifieddeal may be generated. The generation of a game puzzle requires theconcealing of player's card or cards that have been revealed during thedeal and establishing those cards as those to be guessed in solving thepuzzle. Further, the generation of a game puzzle requires identificationof which elements within the puzzle parameters may be initiallydisplayed to a puzzle solver, and which elements within the puzzleparameters may be withheld from a puzzle solver or made available inlater stages of the game, such as with the use possible hints. Thedifficulty of the game puzzle may be calculated based on the resultantvalues of evaluations of puzzle parameters and the overall quantity,quality, and consistency of information displayed to a puzzle solver.

Following the generation of a game puzzle, a score may be calculated,which equates to the sum of any, all, or a subset of the followingweighted and normalized quantified score components:

The hand rank score measures the proximity of a puzzle solver's guessedfive-card hand rank to the correct five-card hand rank. The hand rankscore may be adjusted to account for the quantity and range of all, or asubset of all, possible hand ranks.

The hand score measures the proximity of a puzzle solver's guessedfive-card hand to the correct five-card hand. The hand score may beadjusted to account for the quantity and range of possible hands acrossall, within each, or within a subset of possible hand ranks.

The starting hand score measures the proximity of a puzzle solver'sguessed starting hand to the correct starting hand. The starting handscore may be adjusted to account for the quantity and range of possibleplayer starting hands across all, within each, or within a subset ofpossible hand ranks and possible hands.

The card suit score measures the proximity of a puzzle solver's guessedcard suit to the actual card suit for each guessed card. Similarly, thecard denomination score measures the proximity of a puzzle solver'sguessed card denomination or number to the correct card denomination foreach guessed card.

For each guessed card, the card suit or card denomination may or may notbe critical factors in determining the overall hand; therefore it is notalways reasonable to expect that the puzzle solver accurately guess thespecific card suit or card denomination in all puzzles. To properlyaccount for the relative importance of the card suit and the carddenomination, the card suit score and card denomination score may beadjusted by the degree by which the card suit and card denomination arefactors in forming the final five-card hand rank and final five-cardhand, the degree by which the card suit and card denomination arefactors in forming the set of concealed cards, the degree by which thecard suit and card denomination may have been factors during theevolution of deal play, and the relative importance of the card suitsand card denominations of other concealed cards.

The score equates to the sum of the hand rank score, hand score,starting hand score, card suit score for each guessed card, and carddenomination score for each guessed card. The component scores may beindividually weighted to account for the probability of a random guessthat would result in the correct solution to a score component.Additionally, a component score may be individually weighted to accountfor criticality of that component score parameter to the puzzle solutionand may be mathematically normalized to the sum of the maximum of any orall component scores.

The sum of all weighted and normalized component scores may beadditionally adjusted for any of a plurality of score adjustmentfactors. These factors may include puzzle difficulty, quantity ofinformation displayed, relevance of information displayed, and time usedby the puzzle solver to solve the puzzle.

The score may be weighted to account for strength, relevance, andconsistency of information displayed. The strength, relevance, andconsistency of information may be based on the quantity and quality ofactions displayed, not displayed, or both; the quantity and quality ofstatistical information displayed, not displayed, or both; the quantityand quality of non-statistical information displayed, not displayed, orboth; the range of possible hand rankings, possible hands, possiblestarting hands, possible starting card suits and card denominations thatmay be limited, restricted, or highlighted by the displayed information;and consistency of the above within and across the displayedinformation.

A score may be derived and revealed to the puzzle solver and otherobservers.

In summary, the present invention discloses a poker based puzzle and amethod by which the poker based puzzle is created. The poker basedpuzzle may be based on previous card deals or specifically manufacturedso that the puzzle conforms to the defined descriptive and quantifiedpuzzle parameters. The created poker based puzzle therefore consists ofhaving attributes associated to each puzzle parameter and attributesassociated to the sum of all, or a subset of all, puzzle parameters.

Determination of a particular deal as qualifying as the basis for apuzzle may depend on establishing numerical threshold values forindividual and grouped parameters. The established thresholds may bedifferent for various types of games, game limits, degrees of difficultyof a puzzle, number of players, resultant values to evaluations ofpuzzle parameters, or any combination of these.

After determination of a qualified deal, the deal may be presented as apuzzle by concealing known cards and displaying deal and playerinformation to the puzzle solver. At this point, the puzzle may betreated as a game or exercise in which a participant tries to guess thenature of the concealed card holdings of the presented deal.

In the actual play, information pertinent to the game may be displayedand received in any suitable way, such as by computers, wirelesstelephones and related devices such as personal digital assistants, overthe internet, as software applications, by email, text messages, paper,or by any other suitable methods.

With the above in mind, an example of a round of poker play isrepresented in FIG. 1, which shows an illustrative arbitrarily selectedprearranged game depicted in a display 100. The display 100 may take anyconvenient form, and is to be understood as being a graphic presentationonly. Displayed as relevant to the game are blind information 105 andgame description 110. The display 100 may also present questions for auser, who for the purposes of the present example may assume theposition represented by a theoretical poker player who has been given apseudonym “Toridiculous” seen as 125 d, which user is represented at thehypothetical poker table 135. It will be seen that six additionalhypothetical players are depicted, namely, “Bigtromp88” 125 a,“RobSainter” 125 b, “Novel20” 125 c, “Themightyjim” 125 e, “Newmanmi”125 f, and “Mminteresting” 125 g.

The display 100 also shows an established difficulty level 120, thelevel being judged as “intermediate” in the present example. Each player125 a, 125 b, 125 c, 125 d, 125 e, 125 f, and 125 g is shown as beingassociated with respective statistical information such as thestatistical profile 140 shown for the player 125 f. A key 145 may beprovided for interpreting each player's statistical and non-statisticalinformation. A graphics window 150 may summarize action of the presentdeal at the table 135, with player actions, exposed community cards 155,and pot size 165 shown. A window 170 for receiving an input, which is aguess intended to answer the issue identified by question marks in thegraphics windows 115 and 150, in this example the issue requiringidentification of the card holding of the player 125 d, is to be filledin by the player or participant in solving the puzzle posed by thedisplay 100. An algorithm driven calculation may arrive at a scoreapplicable to the player's guess, and may be displayed in a window 175.The subject deal may be archived for future reference. To this end, thedisplay may assign an identification number such as that labeled 180 inFIG. 1.

The steps occurring in the above example are presented as a basic gamein FIG. 2. In the first step 200, a user may provide game type criteriaor randomly select game type criteria. The specific game and gamecharacteristics are selected. In a step 205, the game and gameinformation which follows from the selection made in the step 200 aredisplayed. The display may take any suitable form, such as a dedicatedgame apparatus (not shown), a web application, smart phone application,computer application, video, and the like. In a step 210, the playerenters his or her input. In a step 215, the solution is displayed. Thesolution may be construed as being based on the answer to the questionposed in the game display, such as the question posed in FIG. 1.Alternatively, the solution may include game score, training materials,tutorials, solution explanation, and thought or analysis processes.Constraints such as time allowed, betting amount constraints, and othersmay come into play.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in an amplified game, additional processesanalyze game puzzles for additional criteria requirements and displayresults refined over those that would be presented in the game of FIG.2. One of the newly presented features is that of the player requestinghelp via any of several options. Help responses may be displayed to theuser.

In a step 305, establishment of game criteria is verified. In a step310, the game is generated responsively to step 305. The selected gameand associated information which is to be made available as backgroundfor the player are displayed in a step 315. The newly presented optionfor receiving help is seen as a step 320. If help is requested thenavailable help in the way of appropriate information is displayed, seenas step 325. If no help has been requested at step 320, action moves toa step 330 wherein receipt of user input is verified. The user input isthe user's guess in solving the puzzle that was presented as part of thestep 315. The user's guess prompts a step 335 of calculating the score,which is followed by a step 340 of displaying the solution to thepuzzle.

FIG. 4 shows the basic steps of creating a puzzle which would forexample satisfy the game displayed in step 205 of FIG. 2 or thatdisplayed in step 315 of FIG. 3, noting that a game puzzle may comprisea single puzzle or alternatively a plurality of puzzles which may beaggregated to generate a game. The desired criteria are established soas to satisfy a step 405 which determines if the necessary input hasbeen received. A database containing candidate deals may be consulted,this being seen as a step 410. Candidate deals may include those cardsoriginally dealt to real or virtual players, as well as informationpertaining to the actions taken by those players, background informationsuch as tells and other personal attributes of the players, and otherdesirable background. Archived actual play, televised play, or evencomputer generated play may serve as source material for the database.After entry of desired game attributes from the step 405 andconsideration of a candidate from the database, a hand is selected whichmeets the entered criteria of the step 405, this being seen as a step415. In a step 420, the selected candidate is evaluated for meetingpre-established puzzle criteria. In a step 425, evaluation is judged asmeeting or not meeting the game criteria. Failure to meet the gamecriteria routes the process back to the step 415 for selection ofanother candidate. Successful meeting of the game criteria in the step425 leads to the step 430 of generating a game puzzle, which may then bepresented for play.

FIG. 5 shows steps of evaluating a deal for puzzle criteria. The processis initiated by a step 505 of verifying whether a hand meeting game typecriteria has been entered or received. This is followed by a step 510 ofcalculating puzzle criteria and variations within each criterion foreach hand. These criteria include quantity and quality of actions,quantity and quality of statistical information, quantity of handpossibilities and of potential hand possibilities, number of knowncards, pot size, whether the street went all in, and quantity andquality of any additional information. The output of the step 510 is aninventory of all information that meets set thresholds for each puzzlecriterion and variations thereof.

In a step 515, each puzzle criterion and possible variations areweighted. These weightings may be statically or dynamically definedbased on hand, puzzle, or game information or criteria, or anycombination of these. The total puzzle information may be stated as asum of each constituent item within the inventory of all informationthat meets the established thresholds, multiplied by the weightingfactors and normalizing factors, if the latter applies.

In a step 520, the puzzle information is assessed for meetingpre-established thresholds. These thresholds may establish minimumvalues, maximum values, or both. The thresholds which apply may reflectdifferent game types, game limits, difficulty levels, numbers ofplayers, and combinations thereof.

In a step 525, responsive to the assessment requirements of the step 520being met, a game puzzle is generated.

FIG. 6 shows steps of calculating a score, which may be based on analgorithm which considers at a minimum correct solution sets, nearnessto correct solution sets, correctly guessing card identity or identitiesof plural cards, correct final five-card hands, number of made handpossibilities, number of potential hand outcomes, game difficulty, totalamount of displayed or undisplayed relevance of game information, suchas background information, use or declination of help requests, timerequired to solve the game or puzzle, and still other factors. The scoremay be calculated by a software application, by applying a formula,using a lookup table, or other ways.

In a step 605, action is initiated when a user input is received. In astep 610, score information is calculated. This encompasses the number,range, and probability for possible hand ranks, hands, starting hands,and starting cards, or combinations thereof. These are based on knowncommunity cards, other known cards, or both. The scoring system alsocalculates the probability that a random guess will arrive at thecorrect puzzle answer for any of the above characteristics.

From this, in a step 615 a preliminary score is calculated. Thepreliminary score may equal the sum of any of the considerations of handrank score, a measure of the nearness of the user guess hand rank to theactual hand rank; hand score, a measure of nearness of the user guessstarting hand to the actual starting hand; suite score, a measure of thenearness of the user guess card suit to the actual card suit for eachuser guess card, and number score, which is a measure of the nearness ofthe user guess card number to the actual card number for each user guesscard. Each of these factors equals a normalized ratio of the nearness ofthe user guess hand rank, user guess hand, user guess starting hand,user guess card suit and/or card number to the correct puzzle answerhand rank, puzzle answer hand, puzzle answer starting hand, puzzleanswer card suit and/or puzzle answer card number, to the full range orall of or a subset of all possible hand ranks, possible hands, possiblestarting hands, and possible starting card suits and numbers. Each ofthe above factors may be weighted to account for random guessing and forthe criticality of the puzzle answer card suit or number. Each of theabove factors may be weighted across all scores to account for relativeimportance of each score to the overall score. The above scores may benormalized to the sum of the maximum of all scores.

A step 620 of calculating a final score follows. Many factors may beadded to the preliminary score to arrive at the final score, such asdegree to which a card suit or card number, or both, are factors informing a poker hand, forming a player starting hand, how the card suitor number or both played out during hand progression, and card suit ornumber criticality of additional cards. The total final score may adjustthe preliminary score for puzzle difficulty, quantity and relevance ofinformation displayed, and time required to solve the puzzle. The totalpreliminary score may be weighted to account for quantity and quality ofactions, whether displayed or undisplayed, quantity and quality ofstatistical information, whether displayed or undisplayed, quantity andquality of additional information, whether displayed or undisplayed,range of possible hand ranks, possible hands, possible starting hands,possible starting card suits and numbers that may be limited,restricted, or highlighted by displayed or undisplayed information.Consistency of any aspects of the answer components may be factored in.The output of this step is a normalized weighting factor for each puzzleanswer card suit and number to adjust the final user guess based on howcritical the suits or numbers are to the overall poker hand. In a step625, the solution is displayed.

I claim:
 1. A method of creating a puzzle game that displays situationsof known preestablished card games, in which the goal of a player of thepuzzle game is to guess concealed card holdings of players of theoriginal preestablished card game at a predetermined point of thepreestablished card game, comprising the steps of: qualifying apreestablished card game so that the player of the puzzle game hassufficient information by which to draw repeatable conclusions as to thenature of the concealed card holdings; reproducing all or a portion ofthe preestablished card game, wherein a plurality of game positions areheld by an equal number of game players; concealing from the player ofthe puzzle game known cards of a player of the preestablished card game;displaying information pertaining to the preestablished card game; anddisplaying information pertaining to the puzzle game;
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the preestablished card game is poker.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the preestablished card game is a form of poker whereinplayers have concealed individual card holdings.
 4. The method of claim3, wherein the preestablished card game is a form of poker whereinplayers share a community card holding.
 5. The method of claim 3,wherein the form of poker has rules permitting players to go all-in, tobet up to the amount of the current pot size, or to bet a predeterminedlimit amount.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method of creating apuzzle game further comprises the steps of: computing values of puzzleparameters, wherein each puzzle parameter comprises one or more aspectsof the preestablished card game; establishing minimum threshold, maximumthreshold, or required values for each of the computed values of puzzleparameters; and qualifying the preestablished card game as a candidatepuzzle game by comparing the computed values of puzzle parameters to theminimum threshold, maximum threshold, or required values for each puzzleparameter.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of computingvalues of puzzle parameters includes one or more of the parameters ofquantity of actions taken by players of the preestablished card game,quality of actions taken by players of the preestablished card game,quantity of statistical information relating to the preestablished cardgame, quality of statistical information relating to the preestablishedcard game, quantity of non-statistical information relating to thepreestablished card game, quality of non-statistical informationrelating to the preestablished card game, the quantity of hand rank andhand possibilities for a player of the preestablished card game, thequantity of potential hand rank and hand possibilities for a player ofthe preestablished card game, the quantity and type of exposed cards,the current sum of monies wagered in the preestablished card game, andthe consistency of puzzle parameters with player actions of thepreestablished card game.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofcomputing values of puzzle parameters includes one or more aspects ofthe preestablished card game at any predetermined point of thepreestablished card game including player call amount, player raiseamount, player total bet amount, pot size amount, number of playersremaining, number of players in position to the player with concealedcard holdings to be guessed, position to the raiser, board texture, orplayer attributes.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the preestablishedcard game is poker of a form allowing players to be all-in, and whereinthe step of computing values of puzzle parameters includes the parameterof how many players are considered all-in.
 10. The method of claim 6,wherein the step of computing values for puzzle parameters includesestablishing predetermined static minimum threshold, maximum threshold,or required values.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein the step ofcomputing values for puzzle parameters includes establishingpredetermined minimum threshold, maximum threshold, or required valuesthat dynamically vary based on the value of any, or a group of any,computed puzzle parameters.
 12. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising the step of mathematically normalizing computed values. 13.An apparatus for playing a puzzle game, comprising: a computing deviceconfigured to have a memory function for storing information relating toattributes of a preestablished card game, wherein the goal of the puzzlegame is to have a player of the puzzle game guess the nature of at leastone concealed card holding from the preestablished card game; acomputing device configured to have a display device where said displaydevice displays all or a portion of the preestablished card game to theplayer of the puzzle game, wherein a plurality of card game positionsare held by number of card game players; a computing device configuredto conceal cards held by players of the preestablished card game; acomputing device configured to have a display device where said displaydevice displays a question to be answered by the player playing thepuzzle game; a computing device configured to compute values for aspectsof the preestablished card game and utilize the computed values togenerate and control the puzzle game; a computing device configured toreceive help requests from the player of the puzzle game; a computingdevice configured to generate output to the display device for theplayer of the puzzle game by revealing additional information perinstructive game rules or as requested by the player of the puzzle game;a computing device configured to receive inputs from the player of thepuzzle game, wherein the input is a guess as to the nature of at leastone concealed card holding of at least one player of the preestablishedcard game; a computing device configured to have a display device wheresaid display device displays a solution of the puzzle game; a computingdevice configured to calculate a score for the player of the puzzle gamebased on attributes related to how close the guess is to the actualconcealed card holding from the preestablished card game; and, acomputing device configured to have a display device where said displaydevice displays the calculated score to the player of the puzzle game.14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a computing deviceconfigured to have a display device where said display device displaysbackground information pertaining to the preestablished card game alongwith all or a portion of the preestablished card game or furtherattributes of the preestablished card game that are required so that theplayer of the puzzle game has sufficient information by which to drawrepeatable conclusions as to the nature of the concealed card holdings.15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a computing deviceconfigured to compute values of aspects of the preestablished card game;and a computing device configured to have a display device where saiddisplay device displays information to the player of the puzzle gamebased on said computed values.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe game is a form of poker.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein thebackground information comprises attributes or personal characteristicsof players of the preestablished card game.
 18. The apparatus of claim13, further comprising a computing device configured to generateadditional information pertinent to the puzzle game and available to theplayer on an optional basis, wherein said additional information isdisplayed on said computing device configured display device.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 18, further comprising a computing device configuredto compute adjustments to the awarded score based on whether the playerof the puzzle game accepted or declined the option to obtain theadditional information pertinent to the puzzle game.
 20. The apparatusof claim 13, wherein said values for aspects of the preestablished cardgame further comprise: a computing device configured to compute levelsof difficulty for guessing the nature of at least one concealed cardholding; and a computing device configured to adjust the awarded scoreto reflect said level of difficulty for guessing the nature of at leastonce concealed card holding associated with the preestablished cardgame.